We arrived in Africa after a grueling but fun 29-hour trip. The heat here is overwhelming…a constant sauna…but, since it’s dry heat, you can tolerate it.

After getting situated in the place we are staying, we walked to a nearby mall and had a delicious dinner of Indian food and went to see “New Year’s Eve” in English–at an air conditioned theater. We could easily have been back home, except for the “chicken” flavored popcorn. The next day, we explored Becky’s city, visiting her university and moving her into her new dorm room. We were also visited by a stranger, who scaled the wall and the iron gate at the house, apparently to rob the house. But, since I thought he was the gardener, who was due to come that morning, I went up and introduced myself to him and said, “You must be Mr. Mompati! How nice to meet you!” He looked startled and said, “Yes, Mr. Mompati. Can you let me in?” He was pointing to my host’s office door. I said, “Yes, I can, but I need to go get dressed first,” as I was in my bath robe. When I came back out, he was gone. I didn’t realize his true identity until the real Mr. Mompati arrived the next morning with a big smile on his face. I thought he was trying to pull a fast one on me, until I realized that he knew all about me and my girls–and my purpose for staying in the house. After some discussion back and forth, I realized how close I had come to letting a thief walk right into my host’s office!

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We tried to start the big jeep of a car that we were going to borrow–the one with an extra tank for long hauls–but it wouldn’t even turn over, so we have ended up renting a car. I can’t say I’m too disappointed: 1) it is automatic instead of manual, and I was having anxiety attacks thinking about trying to shift with my left hand, while getting used to sitting on the right side of the car and driving on the left side of the road 2) it is gloriously air conditioned! It doesn’t have 4-wheel drive, which might be a problem in the game reserves, but I’m hoping we can work around that. Now, if I can just stop putting on the windshield wipers every time I want to signal that I’m going left or right (since even the hand controls are reversed on the wheel).

Tonight, we take our malaria medicine and get ready to leave early in the morning for Khama Rhino Sanctuary–and Tuli Game Reserve–that is, if we can find our way to the road!